‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ Review: I Ain’t Afraid Of These Ghosts
Forty years removed from the original classic, the idea of a new Ghostbusters sequel should still elicit some kind of excitement from the movie-going public at large. Granted, after the Statue of Liberty turns down Broadway to the sounds of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” at the end of Ghostbusters II, maybe it was time to put the franchise back in the ghost trap for a while. Decades later, the unmade script for Ghostbusters III became the foundation for a beloved video game. Sadly, the threequel would have most likely seen Chris Farley fitting into the iconic jumpsuit.
After countless unanswered calls on Bill Murray’s answering machine, director Jason Reitman was finally able to reunite the original cast with a new generation of science nerds after the passing of Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis. Ghostbusters: Afterlife was largely made in secret and managed to harness some of the spark of the original by moving the action to a rural setting and injecting a lot of heart and pathos. Afterlife worked as a reboot and as a fond farewell to the people we’ve lost along the way. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire returns the franchise back to its rightful Manhattan home. The result is a moderately fun action adventure that weaponizes nostalgia. Yet somehow, Frozen Empire decides to underutilize its cast and downplay the absurdist situations that made the first entry so indelible.
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Afterlife capitalized on honoring the memory of Harold Ramis by featuring the ghost of Egon Spengler battling Gozer one last time alongside his grandson Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and granddaughter Phoebe (McKenna Grace). The promising idea of the good ghosts joining the fight against evil spirits is largely abandoned in Frozen Empire. The inevitable sequel starts where bustin’ has become the family business for Trevor, Phoebe, their helicopter Mom Callie (Carrie Coon), and the wise-cracking Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) in tow. Chasing serpentine specters throughout the city is once again proving costly, drumming up the same old concern that the Ghostbusters are doing more harm than good. In a last-ditch effort to save the Tribeca headquarters over at Hook & Ladder Company 8, the surviving members of the Spengler family enlist the help of the O.G. crew to battle another angry demigod.
In an unexpected move, the new additions to the cast aren’t meant to set up a new team to replace the old guard. To the credit of Jason Reitman and Frozen Empire director Gil Kenan, this latest entry doesn’t exist to simply pass the torch off to the next generation to cash in on Sony’s existing IP. The casting choices are, however, fairly predictable. Wouldn’t it be more of a surprise if Patton Oswalt and Kumail Nanjiani weren’t in the new Ghostbusters movie?
Oswalt appears as an occult expert in ancient artifacts who helps Ray Stantz and company discover the hidden powers of a mystical Orb. Oswalt’s character, Dr. Hubert Wartzki, also just happens to work in the bowels of the New York Public Library allowing for a fun but hollow callback to the opening scene in Ghostbusters. Nanjiani plays a self-doubting slacker named Nadeem who may or may not have pyrokinetic powers lying dormant.
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The most surprising addition is a lonely ghost named Lind (Emily Alyn) who befriends Phoebe in secret. Phoebe and Lind’s budding relationship is darkly sweet and could have been the anchor for a non-franchise film that wasn’t trying to shoehorn in 40 years of movie history. Even though their friendship becomes an important plot device (Lind may be a kind of Gatekeeper), it also drags the narrative down. In short, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire soars when it focuses on action and finds itself trapped in exposition anytime the pace slows.
As for the returning cast, they are largely wasted, unfortunately. Annie Potts is back as the hilariously apathetic secretary, Janine. But it feels as if more attention was paid to the kind of quirky glasses she wears than giving her anything memorable to say or do. Murray is physically present as Peter Venkman and genuinely seems glad to be back. There just isn’t enough for him to do as a part of this overstuffed ensemble and his seemingly improvised quips don’t always land. Most egregiously, Ernie Hudson is mainly relegated to the background save for a few spotlight moments of forgettable dialogue. The spark really comes from Aykroyd who has always been the Ghostbusters’ head cheerleader. Also returning, William Atherton as NYC Mayor Walter Peck continues to prove why he remains one of the greatest A-holes ever committed to celluloid.
The original Ghostbusters was essentially a mature horror flick with Bill Murray jokes thrown in for good measure. Miraculously, it became an instant comedy classic even after going through difficult casting issues where the likes of John Candy and John Belushi were jettisoned, making way for an improbable group of actors to sling a few proton packs on their backs. As a villain, Gozer was a real threat to humanity. In contrast, Garraka—the ice-wielding baddie in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire —is a one-trick demigod. The ability to freeze things just isn’t interesting. Watching millions of dollars worth of CG icicles is the antithesis of enthralling, visually arresting cinema. So, the existential threat that Garraka imposes whittles down to a battle of the elements that a so-called Firemaster can easily extinguish.
Unintentionally, the formula for Ghostbusters is almost identical to the setup of most superhero properties. Seeing Slimer scarf down a street cart of hot dogs again doesn’t mask that fact. To be fair, Frozen Empire is about as good as it can be thanks to how the studio system operates nowadays. For all its well-intentioned nostalgia, this new franchise entry serves as an example of how Hollywood just can’t get out of its own way. And it serves as further proof that 1984’s Ghostbusters captured lightning in a bottle. In a post-Marvel era, do filmmakers even know how to make that kind of movie anymore?
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
Summary
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire rightly returns the franchise back to its rightful Manhattan home. The result is a moderately fun action adventure that weaponizes nostalgia. Yet somehow, the film decides to underutilize its cast and downplay the absurdist situations that made the first entry so indelible.
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